Interpreting Poetry

Writers and their Artistic Outlets

Writers typically articulate themselves through novels, poetry, and sculpture, among other outlets that depict their emotional selves in tangible formats. They can talk about personal experiences or comment on current events affecting society across these platforms. The writing styles vary, with others being abstract incidents and some being true events. Poetry, regardless of type, is intended to communicate specific facts while enlightening the public on something significant. Langston Hues wrote a famous poem called Po Boy Blues. It incorporates a variety of literary features such as irony, apostrophes, alliterations, and similes. Nonetheless, this paper will solely focus on allegory and how it is utilized to give meaning to this poem.

The Allegory of Relationships in “Po Boy Blues”

In this particular poem, the narrator strives to illustrate the challenges in life, particularly relationships. The main allegory is based on relationships, where the author deems it to be a source of trouble. The allegory of relationships; a key element of life is key to this poem. As the protagonist starts sharing, the world is perceived as calm as portrayed by nature surrounding it. This is illustrated by the sentiments “when I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold.” Evidently, since ancient times, gold has been portrayed as valuable in all aspects (Poets.org). For instance, countries that mined gold seemed to be rich, or even during games, winners are awarded gold. Therefore, by likening the sunshine to gold, the narrator accurately reveals the cool nature of the world.

The Innocence and Love

The narrator continues with the allegory as he narrates about the innocence of a young boy. “I was a good boy, never done any wrong,” he states. Evidently, kids are quite innocent in almost all what they do i.e. honesty, clear mind, and obedient. At the tender age, they hardly keep grudges even if another party hurts them. It is this innocence of a child the narrator tries to put across. As he continues to journey through life, all the life issues start compounding him. On the other hand, he experiences what other people experience i.e. love. Like any human being, the narrator “fell in love with a girl, whom he thought was kind.” In our life journeys, we come across various human elements such as love and people have different experiences on the same (Princeton University Press). There are some who thrive in love while there are some who suffer due to love. Love in itself is a mystery that cannot be explained. Therefore, the protagonist naturally falls in love with a girl he thought was perfect.

The Detrimental Nature of Wrongful Relationships

The life journey has various ups and downs, and romantic relations are some of them. In this case, the narrator fell for a wrong girl, who was not kind and instead “made him lose his money and almost his mind.” It is a typical situation when one gets in the wrong relationship. The relationship makes him weary, and the entire world crumbles in front of him. Evidently, the whole poem is based on the detrimental aspects of a wrongful relationship. An innocent boy meets a beautiful girl whom he decides to relate with (Victoria). However, as times goes by, the relationship turns detrimental as the girl negatively impacts on him, and he thereby perceives the world to be cold.

The Journey from Innocence to Unworthy Relationships

Overall, the poem depicts the journey of a young boy from innocence to unworthy relationships. It is an allegory of the typical life of any human being. As an innocent boy, the protagonist perceives the world to be cool as the sunshine looks like gold. However, after experiencing a bad relationship, the world turns out to be cold; a typical illustration of the current relationship journey.

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. “Poetry: Blues Style.” (2012). .

Poets.org. “Po’ Boy Blues.” n.d. 11 August 2017. .

Princeton University Press. “Allegory.” (n.d.): 1-23. .

Victoria, C. “Po’Boy Blues by Langston Hughes.” 13 March 2014. 11 August 2017. .